Neumünster Zoo

Neumünster Zoo
motto	Education through emotions
particularities	Wildlife of northern regions
place	Geerdtsstrasse 100 ; 24537 Neumünster
surface	24 ha
Animal species	approx. 100 (2014)
Individuals	approx. 700 (2014)
Visitor numbers	164,538 (2014)
organization
management	Verena Kaspari
Sponsorship	Animal Park Association Neumünster
Member of	EAZA , VdZ , DWV
	Entrance to the zoo
	www.tierparkneumuenster.de

54.091666666667 9.945Coordinates: 54 ° 5 ′ 30 ″ N , 9 ° 56 ′ 42 ″ E

The Neumünster Zoo is a zoo in Neumünster in Schleswig-Holstein . The park is home to around 700 animals from 100 species of mammals, birds and reptiles on an area of 24 hectares.

history

The zoo was founded in 1951 as the Neumünster home zoo . For a long time it has developed its own profile by consistently restricting itself to animal species that are or were native to Central Europe . Today the concept has been expanded so that in addition to wolves (until 2015), seals , brown bears (until 2018), bison and numerous other animal species in the region, polar bears , barbary macaques and Humboldt penguins can also be found. The Barbary ape enclosure is accessible to visitors at their own risk.

Neumünster Zoo participates in the European Endangered Species Program (EEP). He is known for his success in keeping and breeding otters , bison and Przewalski wild horses .

Together with the adjacent urban forest, it is a " nature experience in Schleswig-Holstein ". In the zoo there is a faithfully reconstructed and furnished Nissen hut .

The zoo is run by an association and does not receive any city funding. It hit the headlines when, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, the director publicly considered slaughtering more zoo animals than usual if the financial situation worsened due to the closure.

Polar bear Knut

On November 28, 2007 the Flensburger Tageblatt reported that the polar bear "Knut", born in the Berlin Zoological Garden , belongs to the Neumünster Zoo. Knut's father "Lars" had been on loan from the Neumünster Zoo to the Berlin Zoo since 1999, and it was contractually agreed that the first young animal born - Knut - belonged to the Neumünster Zoo. The director of the Berlin zoo, Bernhard Blaszkiewitz, confirmed the contract. After the Berlin zoo refused to allow the Neumünster zoo to share in the income from the marketing of Knut, the zoo sued the zoo.

On July 7, 2009 it was announced that the Berlin Zoo and the Neumünster Zoo had reached an agreement in the legal dispute. Knut stayed in Berlin, the Neumünster Zoo received a compensation payment of 430,000 euros.